Recipe – Braised Beer Chicken (啤酒鸡)

We celebrated Grandpa’s 81st birthday on Monday, so I decided to cook the whole family dinner as his “birthday present”. I designed the menu the day before and created “Braised Beer Chicken” since Grandpa used to drink Guinness Stout everyday when he was young!

This is a very simply home style dish but it was the highlight for that night. Everyone in the family loves it! Even the fussy boyfriend enjoyed it (I think he is very lucky to have a girlfriend who can cook so well, HAHAHA).

Don’t have to worry about the alcoholic taste in the dish because it will be evaporated while simmering the dish. What is left, is only the beer fragrance in the chicken. I am using Guinness Stout because it was recommended. The dish turned out very well as the stout gave the end gravy a velvety texture with a slight bitterness which was hardly noticeable and no taste of the beverage at all.

Ingredients
1/2 chicken (about 600g), cut into small pieces (you can also chicken thighs or drumlettes)
1 carrot, cut into pieces
1 tsp minced garlic
½ tsp minced ginger
2 tbsp cornflour
1 chilli, cut into pieces
some spring onion
Seasoning (A)
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
Seasoning (B)
1 tsp light soy sauce
1½ tbsp sugar
½ can Guinness Stout
1 tsp sesame oil

Method
1. Marinate chicken with seasoning (A) for several hours 30 minutes.
2. Heat up a wok over high heat and add some oil. When a swirl of smoke appears from the wok and the oil is fully heated, add minced garlic and ginger, stir fry until light brown or aromatic.
3. Add chicken to the wok and stir fry till about 70% cooked before adding seasoning (B). Do a few quick stirs.
4. Cover the wok with the lid and turn the heat to low heat and let the chicken cook for 15 minutes.
5. Add in carrots and let it simmer for another 15 minutes.
6. Stir some water and corn flour together. Pour some into the wok to thicken the sauce.
7. Add in some chilli and spring onion. Do a few quick stirs and serve.